FROM PRODUCT IDEATO
FROM PRODUCT IDEATO CIRCULAR ECONOMYA building like a tree, that „cleans water and air, produces oxygen, generates soil and nutrients“.That is the vision of Professor Michael Braungart, who developed the C2C design concept –a holistic approach to product design, manufacturing methods and processes that takes accountof the entire life cycle. The great challenge is not to minimise the use of resources but to managethem in cycles, with the aim of doing things better, rather than less badly.CIRCULARITY AS A MATTER OF PRINCIPLEThe guiding principle pursued by company founderA.W. Keim was to take a mindful look at the futureand coming generations. With our products and ourentrepreneurial activity, we have remained consistentlytrue to this principle for more than 145 years. And weare consequently moving on from a linear to a circularapproach in order to face up to the requirements ofthe EU Green Deal for a lifecycle-based “design forsustainability”, making an essential and measurablecontribution to the circular economy. Certifying ourproducts according to the Cradle to Cradle Certified ®Products Program is therefore not our final objectivebut an important step on the way to a circular industry.COMPREHENSIVE CERTIFICATION PROCESSCradle to Cradle Certified ® is the world’s mostadvanced, science-based standard for designingand making products today that enable a healthy,equitable, and sustainable tomorrow. Cradle toCradle Certified ® is a registered trademark of theCradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute(C2CPII). The products are assessed according todiffering criteria in 5 comprehensive categories:material health, material reutillization, renewableenergy, water stewardship and social fairness.Independent third parties examine and assess thesubstances contained in all products. To this end,KEIM worked with the accredited assessor EPEA –Part of Drees & Sommer from Hamburg. Thesuccessful audit was confirmed by the Cradle toCradle Products Innovation Institute.Cradle to Cradle Certified ® stands fora continuous improvement process.Recertification is carried out every 2 yearsto avoid stagnation and to verify productand process optimisations.Rüdiger Lugert,Managing Director KEIMFARBEN„As leading specialist for mineral building protection,we are called upon to think ahead to a liveable futureand to act accordingly already now in the present.Cradle to Cradle Certified ® confirms that we do justiceto this responsibility – not just with our products andsystem solutions but also with our social commitmentinside and outside the company.”
s u s t a i n a b l e construction with keim – circul a r i t y and heal t h for genera t i o n s3BiodegradationUseBiologicalnutrientBIOLOGICAL CYCLEOF CONSUMER GOODSProductsTechnicalnutrientProductionTECHNICAL CYCLEOF DURABLE GOODSRecoveryProductionUseCRADLE TO CRADLE CERTIFIED ®The Cradle to Cradle Certified ® certificate seesmaterials as substances that are made available tonew processes after use. All substances contained inthe products must therefore be assessed scientificallyfor circularity, in order to make a useful contributionto the environment from production via utilisationthrough to returning the substances to the cycle.A distinction is made between commodities andconsumables. When commodities come to the endof their use, they are disassembled into pure-graderaw materials and returned to a technical cycle.At the end of the use phase for consumables, thesego back into the natural, biological cycle. Paints areallocated to the biological cycle. They are „consumed“during use and their component parts are returnedProductsto the environment in the long term through erosion,wear etc. KEIM paints are made of mineral andnatural raw materials and already protect or improvethe biosphere while in use. They are extremely durableand also score with attributes such as their abilityto degrade air pollutants, or their particularly highvapour permeability. We are convinced that theindustry‘s innovation capabilities will offer newrecovery possibilities in future and that urban miningwill become a serious source of raw materials.Our C2C certified products already lay the cornerstonefor the future, precisely because the end oflife of a building lies far ahead, with the need forrenovation and maintenance of its component partsin the meanwhile.
